Placeholder

Pseudo-element

::placeholder

Styles the placeholder text of form input elements.

Example

input::placeholder {
  color: #999;
  font-style: italic;
}
textarea::placeholder {
  opacity: 0.7;
}

Specificity

0-0-1

Browser Support

All browsers

About the Placeholder

The ::placeholder CSS selector belongs to the Pseudo-element category.Styles the placeholder text of form input elements. Understanding CSS selector specificity and combinators is essential for writing maintainable stylesheets that behave predictably.

The specificity of this selector is 0-0-1. CSS specificity determines which styles are applied when multiple rules target the same element. Higher specificity values take precedence. The specificity hierarchy from lowest to highest is: universal (*) → type/element → class/attribute/pseudo-class → ID → inline styles → !important.

Browser support for Placeholder is: All browsers. When using newer CSS selectors like :has(), :is(), or CSS nesting, consider providing fallback styles for older browsers. Use @supports to progressively enhance your stylesheets with modern features while maintaining backward compatibility.

Related Selectors

::before ::after ::selection